An Englishman riding his bicycle the length of Africa is wondering what his next step will be after most of his equipment, except for his bicycle, was stolen from his room in a town in western Kenya.
Peter Gostelow is riding his bicycle to South Africa in a grand expedition called The Big Africa Cycle that he expects will cover 18,600 miles while traversing 25 countries.
This is no record-seeking bike tour. He left England in August 2009. The slow speed of his tour across the African continent can be chalked up to the work he is doing along the way in support of the Against Malaria Foundation.
Ransacked
In fact, that's what brought him to Kapsabet, where he was participating in the distribution of 2,500 mosquito nets to rural communities in the fight against malaria. While he was participating in a local media event to publicize the net distribution, he returned to his room to discover it had been ransacked:
“Well this particular crook did a good job. The only valuable item left
in my room was my passport. Otherwise it was pretty much a clean sweep.
Laptop and modem – gone, Nikon SLR camera with 2 lenses – gone, compact
camera – gone, money belt containing credit card, £100+ cash and
personal collection of African bank notes from every country I’ve been
to – gone, Ipod and external mini speakers – gone, camera tripod – gone,
solar battery charger – gone, tent poles (bizarrely enough) gone. But
most significantly of all, far more valuable than electronic items that
can be replaced, was my external hard-drive. This is the storage device
that contains thousands of photos and videos of the trip. I had last
backed up my photos in Nigeria, over 6 months ago, and was planning to
do another back-up in Nairobi within a few weeks.”
Fortunately, he had his bicycle with him at the time.
He goes on to tell about the misdirected and futile investigation by local police, and how he's staying with some nuns who also are participating in the mosquito net distribution.
Support
Although he says he never wanted others to fund his trip, he says “things are a bit desperate on the budget for the trip side of things.” He says a laptop and camera are essential to continue reporting on the journey through his blog.
There's a Big Africa Cycle PayPal button on his website to make donations.
Also, the TravellingTwo bicycle touring website has its own fund-raiser for Big Africa Cycle. All proceeds from their Bike Touring Survival Guides ($7 each) sold today (Sunday) and Monday goes to the Big Africa Cycle.
Also, anyone making a donation to the Big Africa Cycle PayPal website directly also will get a book.
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